I will be myself, if only for tonight
by redheadedme92
Summary: Wind whipped around, cutting through the thin dress the girl wore. She wondered if she ran away how long it would be till her mother noticed her missing. Would it be a few hours, a day; two or three even?
1. Chapter 1

I will be myself, if only for tonight. Chapter one.

Thunder clouds rolled across the horizon bringing the smell of rain along the wind. The sweet smell filled the air, electricity in the atmosphere coursed around her. This storm would be long and powerful. Wind whipped around, cutting through the thin dress the girl wore. She wondered if she ran away how long it would be till her mother noticed her missing. Would it be a few hours, a day; two or three even? If she took her little brother it'd be much sooner than two or three days. Her mother was an addict: a pill popper and an alcoholic. Her father had abandoned her before her little brother was born. Pondering what was worse, her mother's violent fits of rage or her father's cold abandonment she was interrupted by a voice calling for her.

"Maja, Maja...MA-JA!" A little boy called worriedly.

Turning back towards the house she quickly followed the sound of the voice.

"MAJA! Where are you!?" He whined louder, starting to cry.

"Here I am, here I am." She says motherly, bending down to pick him up. "Hush, okay, it's okay, I'm here now." Holding the three year old in her arms she looked down at him tenderly. "Why are you out here crying Haru-chan?"

"I had a dream you disappeared an, an, I couldn't find you! An when I woke up," he sniffs, "…I couldn't find you!" Haru replies sniffling.

"It's okay, Haru. She smiles down at him. "I'm here now. I tell you what why don't we go inside and make some breakfast together? Would you like that?"

"Yes!" He smiles up at her.

Going into the house they are unaware of the danger lurking inside. Maja sets Haru down on the kitchen counter. Rummaging through the fridge she notices there isn't much there: a quart of milk, half a loaf of bread, an opened case of cheese, and one small egg. Making a note to herself, to go shopping later, she pulls out the egg and half a loaf of bread. Popping the bread in the toaster she starts to scramble the egg on the stove.

"THUD"

Maja realizing the sound must have been their mother falling off the couch. She quickly removes Haru from the counter just in time to see her mother stumble into the kitchen pushing Haru towards the table making sure he is seated out of the way. She turns back to make his plate, carefully avoiding there staggering mother who is looking through the fridge herself. Seeing the fridge almost bare she slams it and turns around glaring.

"Wha you got there?" Mother slurs at Haru.

"Maja made me breakfast." He says smiling until he notices her look.

"She did, did she?" Turning her glare on the Maja, "Who says you can just cook whenever you want? Hm? Who pays for the food here, me or you? And you both gobble everything up!" Her eyes go back and forth between the two, narrowing into slits. Snatching the plate from the table "This is mine go find your own food!"

Haru sniffles. Dropping the plate back on the table their Mother comes near to him screeching. "Are you gonna cry! I'll give you something to cry about!" She lifts her arm and is about to strike him when suddenly Maja moves in front in between them, taking the blow. What would have connected with the boys face instead hits Maja's arm.

"Haru hide." She says as her mother hits her again across the face.

"You little bitch! Get out of my way." She tries going around.

"Mother please he's just a baby!"

SMACK! "Shaddup!" Another smack! "Why don't you get a job and support him then! When you're supporting him and yourself you can do whatever you want! But you're my kids and if I wanna beat the shit out of you, I will." Smack! "Maybe you're too stupid to get a job, hm? You are both such ungrateful little brats!"

This continues until the phone rings. Their Mother leaves to answer it and Maja quickly takes the opportunity to escape and find Haru. Finding him hiding under their bed she grabs him and makes a quick dash out the back door.

"And just where do you think you're going?" her Mother says angrily as she hangs the phone up.

"I have school, and Haru has preschool." Maja replies steadily.

"Fine, then. I'll see you both after school, and you _better_ come right home." She replies going back inside. "I'll be waiting to finish our little 'discussion'."

Maja slowly walks away carrying Haru to her only friends' house, Shizuru Kuwabara. Making her way to Shizuru's apartment had been difficult with the beating she had just endured. Knocking on the door, she patiently waited for someone to answer.

Opening the door Shizuru was startled by the sight of her severely bruised friend.

"Kohana what the hell happened to you?!"

"Mother," she replies.

…..

Chapter one finished!

Maja is Kohana, Maja is a name Haru created for Kohana because he views her as his mother; though they wouldn't dare have such care for one another in front of their Mother.

Haru is three with blue eyes and blond hair. An outspoken, charismatic little boy when with Kohana, he's the complete opposite when she's away; and even more withdrawn when left with his Mother.

Kohana is 16 with violet colored eyes and dark wavy hair. She's 5'3" and of petite stature; weighing only 105lbs. Her name means "little flower" and was chosen by her grandmother who passed away just days before her birth. Her Mother wanted to name her something else but her Father insisted on honoring his Mother's wish to name her Kohana, though it's ironic because he had no honor for himself when leaving.

Mother, Neikan-Kirai is two names combined. The first means "Wicked, treacherous" and the second means "Hate." The children very seldom, if ever, use both names but rather use one or the other.


	2. Chapter 2

****Author note: I forgot to put a disclaimer in the first chapter. So here it goes, I do not own Yu Yu Hakusho. I own my OC'S Kohana, Haru, and Neikan-Kiari. I plan on making every chapter a minimum of 1000 words. Again, this is my first fan fiction that I'm writing so please be kind to me. ****

****Also very important! Thank you to Shadow Fox 2013 for reviewing; this is for you! I even skipped my nap to write and update for you. T.T ****

**I will be myself, if only for tonight**

**Chapter 2**

Shizuru quickly lets them into her apartment. "You wanna tell me what happened?" she asks as she locks the door behind them. Kohana glances at Shizuru then walks over to the couch and sets Haru down. She grabs a magazine off of the coffee table and says to him, "Look at this for a bit, Ok?" "Ok, Maja," he answers. Looking back at Shizuru she thinks for a minute before stepping into the kitchen to answer her concerned friend. While she stands there thinking, fumbling her hands together, Shizuru pulls out a cigarette, places it between her lips and then lights it. She takes a drag, pulls the cigarette away from her face, and exhales as she flicks off the ashes into the sink. Shizuru turns around and sees Kohana staring at the floor, "Kohana," she says abruptly, "You want to tell me what the hell happened, or what?"

Kohana draws in a deep breath and then gives out a long, _loud_ sigh. "…I guess there's no real way around it anymore…" she says hesitantly. She walks across the kitchen to the table, grabs the vase with flowers and brings it to her nose to smell. Shizuru leans up against the counter and crosses her arms; bringing the cigarette again to her mouth she takes another drag. "These smell wonderful," Kohana says, placing the vase back down. "Mm-hm," Shizuru mumbles as she brings her hand holding the cigarette down to her side; "So what can't be gotten around anymore?" "…my Mother…" Kohana says softly – "Yeah?" Shizuru says, cutting Kohana off with more than a little irritation in her voice, "I got that much when you showed up at my apartment all bruised to hell!" she said, louder than she meant to. She leaned back and looked into the other room at Haru and saw that he was still looking at the magazine Kohana had given him. "What the hell happened?" she says, a bit softer. "She's a junkie!" Kohana blurts out, "All she does is get high, pass out and sleep all day." Shizuru stands there silently. Somber faced and truly concerned she puts out her cigarette and then she sits Kohana down at the table. "I'm sorry," Shizuru tells her soberly and a little ashamed at her brutal interrogation. Kohana looks up at Shizuru as she walks around the table, eyes watering and lips trembling. "…She was passed out and Haru was hungry," she says, pausing to wipe the fresh tears from her cheek; Shizuru hands her friend a tissue from off the table. "Thank you," she says as she blows her nose. "There wasn't much food left," she places the tissue down on the table, "just an egg and a little bread; so I made what there was…" she pauses, fresh tears beginning to form in her eyes. Shizuru reaches out and puts her hand on Kohana's. "I was just about to make Haru a plate so he could start eating when we heard a loud 'THUD' from the other room," Kohana pauses again, her lips pursed together; her body trembles as she tries to find the words to speak. Shizuru rubs Kohana's hand. "She came stumbling into the kitchen, saw that we had cooked the last of the food and…" she shutters, "and became violent." She puts her face in her hands and begins weeping. Shizuru stands up out of her chair and kneels next to Kohana; placing her arms around her, she holds and comforts her. Tears flooding down her face she turns to Shizuru and says, "She took his food and was going to hurt him!" she exclaimed, "I had to step in." "It's ok now—." Kohana cut her off in midsentence, "She kept hitting me," she confessed, "The only thing that made her stop was the damn phone ringing." She put her face back in her hands and sobs. Shizuru holds on to her tighter. Kohana leans her head on Shizuru's shoulder. "It's ok now," Shizuru says, holding her friend.

Shizuru comforts Kohana for what seems like hours; Kohana weeping the whole time. "Hey, hold on a second, ok Kohana?" Shizuru tells her, "Haru, can you come in here please?" she calls into the other room. "No," Kohana tells her, ashamed by her tears, "Not while I'm like this." She grabs another tissue out of the box on the table. "It's ok," Shizuru tells her, "I'm gonna get him something to eat and we'll go into the front room." "Yes," Haru says as he enters the kitchen. "What do you want for breakfast?" Shizuru asks him, smiling, acting as though nothing is amiss. "Pancakes!" he shouts.

"Enjoy," Shizuru tells him as she places a plate of hot pancakes smothered in syrup in front of him. He digs right in. Shizuru leaves Haru to enjoy his very own delicious breakfast and joins Kohana in the other room. She picks up her cigarettes and a lighter, lights one up, and places the pack and lighter down on the coffee table as she sits down next to Kohana on the couch. Kohana tells Shizuru the rest of the story. Cigarette after cigarette Shizuru listens intently to her friend: how she was told to get a job and support them both; and how her mom wanted to finish their "conversation" later, after they were home from school. The whole twisted ordeal was laid out before her; pouring out of a broken, battered friend who had nowhere or no one else to turn to. "You probably think poorly of me now, don't you?" Kohana asks, "I wouldn't blame you if you di—." "No!" Shizuru says with confidence, "What you did for your brother is heroic," she says, turning Kohana's face toward hers, "It's admirable, and I only wish that I could be half so brave."

They sit there for a few minutes, just sitting. Shizuru lights up a cigarette. "So what are you gonna do?" she asks, as she grabs the ashtray and places it in her lap. "I don't know," Kohana answers, her gaze to the floor. Shizuru takes a drag from her cigarette. "You can't stay there; you know that, don't you?" Shizuru says while exhaling. She then lowers her head to meet Kohana's gaze. "I know," Kohana answers, still gazing down at the floor, right through Shizuru's head. "Hey!" Shizuru says starkly. She puts the cigarette to her mouth and takes a quick puff, then quickly exhales as she puts it out in the ashtray. "Oh, I'm sorry," Kohana says as she comes back to reality. "I might be able to get you a job at the diner next to the salon," Shizuru says as she places the ashtray back onto the coffee table; she looks back at Kohana and adds, "Only if you want to, that is." "That would be great," Kohana says, turning her head toward Shizuru, smiling ear to ear.

"Maja?" Haru calls out to Kohana as he enters the front room dripping syrup. "Oh, Haru," Kohana says embarrassed at the mess Haru had created. "It's ok," Shizuru tells Kohana. She turns back toward Haru. "Hey Haru," Shizuru cheerfully says to the syrup covered little boy, "Wanna spend the day with me while Kohana takes care of a few errands?" "Maja?" Haru asks Kohana, seeking her approval. "It's ok, Haru," she answers, "You'll have lots of fun with Shizuru." Kohana turns to Shizuru, "Thank you." "Hey, what are best friends for, right?" Shizuru replies, smiling. "Now," she says, "What do we do with this little syrup boy?" Haru giggles.


End file.
